Asia EdNet Tutorial - Module 4
 |
 |
Keeping in touch - Using the
Internet for communication |
|
 |
Other forms of communication
Web forums
Web forum discussions or boards use the same concept as discussion groups but are available on the web instead of via email. They provide a type of 'noticeboard' where you can look at all the discussions, usually arranged by topic, and post your own messages and replies directly on the web page as well.
Unlike email-based discussion groups, forums are not 'push' technology since you have to visit a forum before you have access to the information it contains. In other words, you go to the information rather than the information coming to you.
Note that some web forums provide a hybrid service where you can access messages both via the web and via email.
An Australian teacher's experience using a forum
http://www.edna.edu.au/sibling/learnit/casestudy_15.html
(Cheryl Walters)
You can browse through several education-related web forums using EdNA's Forum site (http://forum.edna.edu.au/).
Task 6 - EdNA's web forums 
Go to EdNA's Forum website (http://forum.edna.edu.au/).
Investigate the contents of several forums, taking notes about how (if at all) their contents differ from that of email-based mailing lists.
Newsgroups
Newsgroups are similar to email-based mailing lists/discussion groups and are still extremely popular. Despite the name, newsgroups are not likely to be about the daily news!
 More about newsgroups
One way of looking for newsgroups is to use a directory such as Tile.Net/News (http://tile.net/news/) which is searchable (at the bottom of the page) using keywords such as 'education' and 'school'.
Online chat
Unlike email, online chat is a 'synchronous' form of communication in which participants must be online at the same time in order to be able to communicate. There are essentially two kinds of online chat. One is Internet Relay Chat (IRC), which uses a separate part of the Internet from the web and only displays text but is currently the most popular form of online chat. The other is web-based which can be text based or use graphics and so-called 'virtual environments'.
It is not recommended that students take part in publicly accessible chat rooms because participants are anonymous.
More about online chat
Videoconferencing
Videoconferencing is a form of audio and visual communication that is also synchronous, requiring participants to take part in real time. Although it is becoming more popular, its use is still restricted to relatively few schools in Australia. A very fast Internet connection and extra hardware are required.
Read a case study about using videoconferencing in schools:
Videoconferencing in remote Australia
http://www.edna.edu.au/sibling/learnit/casestudy_30.html
(Louise Becker)
More about videoconferencing
|
